Money $marts: The oxymoronic view

GERRY KRAMER

12:51 PM, Nov 22, 2011

One of the great literary inventions is the oxymoron: basically two contradictory words together or in a phrase that communicates a new meaning devoid of contradiction; jumbo shrimp is a simple example.

Creative destruction, the concept of economic progress through innovation, illustrates how an oxymoron is often used to succinctly make a point that might otherwise get lost in verbiage. Similarly, "less is more" has meaning way beyond the three words it contains. Historically, the oxymoron was also used for witty slander. A political enemy was described as "deeply superficial," or an "authentic phony." A literary competitor's mind was of "monumental littleness." Andy Warhol, the artist, was once described as "a genius with the IQ of a moron." The current economic situation and the absence of character or identifiable intelligence in our politicians, bureaucrats and corporate chieftains are ideal for the application of the oxymoron.

The U.S. Congress is comprised of individuals sworn to uphold the law and support the Constitution. "Found a society of honest men and all thieves will join it" or "an honest politician is one who when he's bought, stays bought" seems appropriate. With the collapse of the super-committee deficit talks, congressional dysfunction continues. Government has become "the perfection of rottenness" comprised of "professional amateurs" that are "genuinely bogus" with "delusions of adequacy." "Deep down they are all shallow."

How many economic experts sporting Ph.D.s have been in charge of the U.S. economy? How many social engineering intellectuals hold to their theories and viewpoints despite overwhelming real world evidence to the contrary? Washington is full of academically educated fools who believe they know better than we do how we should live our lives. "A learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant one."

We have become a nation where we bailout failure, reward the irresponsible and coddle the false claimants of victimhood assuring such bad behavior will be repeated. "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."

"There is nothing so permanent as a temporary job (or agency) in Washington." Enough said.

"The most important thing we do is to not do." Government cannot learn this lesson; doing something always trumps doing nothing even though the something almost always makes thing worse than doing nothing.

Perhaps the best oxymoronic contradiction in terms: public servant. Our elected officials are neither servants nor protectors of the public interest. They obey no rules or laws that they devise for the rest of us. The longer they "serve" in office the richer they become. Their children go to private schools. They have their own healthcare and retirement programs. They are almost never punished for their failures. "All men are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

Finally for every know-it-all out there: "If you are sure you understand everything that is going on around you, you are hopelessly confused."

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Write to gerryk3001@yahoo.com. The source for each quoted oxymoron examples can be found in "Oxymoronica" by Dr. Marty Grothe.